Howick and Pakuranga Times : Howick and Pakuranga Times, Monday, April 29, 2013

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4 --- Howick and Pakuranga Times, Monday, April 29, 2013
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Montessori at Howick Primary
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The first duty of education is to stir up life, but then leave it free to develop
IT WAS a vision of unity at Howick
Primary School on Friday, April
19 – one that a group of parents
envisaged more than 10 years ago.
The Montessori unit at Howick
Primary School and the Howick-
Pakuranga Montessori Academy
(HPMA) celebrated its 10th birthday
on the last day of school term with
more than 300 parents, friends, stu-
dents and Montessori ex-students in
attendance.
Pearl Sidwell, one of the founding
parents at the school, kicked off the
ceremony with a welcome speech in
both Maori and English.
The late Christian Dahmen, a key
founder and a former chairperson
of the Montessori Board of Trustees
at the school who passed away two
years ago was remembered, his son,
Aaron and wife Dagmar attending
the celebration.
Aaron, a Year 10 student at Glen-
dowie’s Sacred Heart College, spoke
assuredly of his late father’s contri-
bution and how happy he would have
been to witness this joyous occasion.
Later, the planting of an avocado
tree by Aaron, Dagmar and Montes-
sori head teacher Dee Gordon, was a
highlight. The tree will not only pro-
vide fruit in 10 years’ time, but will
also provide shade so children can sit
and read under it.
The crowd then moved into the
school hall for thank you speeches
and other items on the programme.
The school choir was in top form,
as were the children who performed
in the ensuing play and skit.
In the play, the children effort-
lessly acted out the life story of Maria
Montessori, founder of the Montes-
sori education movement, highlight-
ing the hurdles she overcame in her
own education.
A global learning philosophy,
Montessori promotes a passion for
lifelong learning from an early age.
The event concluded on a sweet
note, with the youngsters and, later,
adults lining up for a slice of a large
cake embellished with the Montes-
sori motto, the Howick Primary
School crest, and the words, “Happy
10th Celebration”.
For many schools, 10 years is sim-
ply a rite of passage that comes with
time, but for Montessori at Howick
Primary School it is so much more.
Current board chairperson Phil
Holloway says the growth has been
encouraging. “We started with one
class and now we have two, making it
a total of around 30 students.”
Phil says it has been a challenging
yet fulﬁlling journey as the school is
run mainly by volunteers.
“Ten years is a huge achievement
for us. A lot of effort has been poured
into Montessori at Howick Primary
and we want to thank the commu-
nity, the parents, the school and eve-
ryone who has supported it and made
it a reality.”
While Montessori focuses on chil-
dren’s relationship with learning,
Phil says parents also embark on a
journey.
“Building the relationship with
parents is incredibly important,” says
the father of three, two of whom are
already immersed in Montessori, and
one en route.
He says parents need to reinforce
what the children learn at school and
support them at home to become
independent, rounded individuals.
“We believe the school provides
structured learning while, back at
home, unstructured learning takes
place – that’s when the child’s inter-
ests take over. As a dad, I’m really
enjoying it. Montessori makes me a
better father.”
Although small in number, the stu-
dents have great impact on their sur-
roundings, says Phil. “The learning
methodology from Montessori has
ﬂowed into the primary school and
we’re proud of the way the children
interact with other students.”
Howick Primary School principal
Leyette Callister agrees wholeheart-
edly. “Some of the Montessori ideas
and thinking are becoming a positive
force in the school and teachers ﬁnd
these helpful in their own teaching.”
She says this is evident in the
domain of conﬂict resolution in the
playground. “In playground behav-
iour, it’s really important for children
to have empathy and understanding
of others.
“The Montessori children under-
stand this and have other qualities
such as grace and courtesy. They
have a conﬁdence about them – they
really do stand out! That has an inﬂu-
ence on other children.”
Although the Montessori system
sets them apart, Leyette says the
children are integrated into the rest
of the school.
“The children aren’t excluded;
they’re not cut off. They’re very
much a part of everything happening
at Howick Primary and the only dif-
ference is in the classroom and learn-
ing time.
“It’s a really wonderful marriage of
our two systems and the children are
advantaged by being part of a bigger
school while still being exposed to
the purism of Montessori.”
The children take part in all extra-
curricular activities such as music,
chess, sport, festivals, and camps.
Leyette says having Montessori at
the school is a wonderful opportu-
nity to offer a truly alternative edu-
cation option in a mainstream setting
and one she would love to expand
further.
“My dream would be to open up a
Montessori pre-school. We have all
the facilities and space and there is
a lot of potential here. That way, we
would have a consistent three-year
cycle of the programme that ﬂows
from ages three to six, six to nine, and
nine to 12.”
It helps also that the school has
superb teachers at the helm of the
Montessori programme, says Ley-
ette.
Head teacher Dee Gordon recalls
how, after many years of teaching
with conventional methods, she
had become disillusioned. Then, an
encounter with a four-year-old Mon-
tessori student changed that.
“I was struck by how excited the
children were about learning and
was blown away by how much con-
trol they had over their learning!”
Experienced teacher Charlene
Jacobs says she experienced some-
thing similar when she began her
experience with Montessori four
years ago. “I felt like I’d started teach-
ing all over again. It’s that new feel-
ing that you get when you’re excited
and enjoy what you’re doing!”
Dee says the board of trustees run
by volunteer parents could not be
more supportive. “They organise
funds for materials imported from
overseas, support our professional
development and ongoing training
which is an absolute treat.
“We’ve always had extremely
supportive principals too. They are
amazing and exceed their call of
duty.”
Dee has been teaching for nine out
of the 10 years Montessori has been
active at Howick Primary. “It doesn’t
feel like 10 years. When I look back
at how far we’ve come I feel really
blessed. The children are so grounded
and integrated with the school.”
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